The Economic Research Service (ERS) at the U.S. Department of Agriculture analyzed natural-cause mortality data for adults aged 25-54 from two three-year periods – 1999 through 2001 and 2017 through 2019. Researchers found that the mortality rate from natural causes such as chronic disease and cancer in rural areas was only 6 percent higher than for city dwellers during the first period, but the gap widened to 43 percent by 2019.
